Beale Street Black and Bluesy Burger with Bacon Caramelized Onions

Ingredients

Blue Cheese Condiment:
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
6 oz. Danish Blue cheese, cut into pieces
1/2 tsp grey poupon dijon mustard
1/2 tsp honey
Burgers:
1 1/2 lb ground round
2 med. colves garlic, crushed
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp blackening seasoning
1 tbsp Bottled Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce
Marinade:
1/2 cup Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon
4 tsp Bottled Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce
Bacon Caramelized Onion Topping:
8 slices applewood smoked bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large Sweet onions, ie Vidalia, Texas Sweets, etc. sliced (about 4-5 cups)
2 tbsp blackening seasoning
vegetable oil for oiling grill grid
6 Kaiser rolls, split
6 thick slices of tomato, circumference of burger

Instructions

To make the blue cheese condiment, place cream cheese and blue cheese into a food processor bowl, fitted with a metal blade, and process until smooth. Mix Dijon mustard and honey. Spoon mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap and wrap up into a 5-inch cylinder, refrigerate.
For burger patties: In a large bowl, mix together ground round, garlic, Dijon mustard, kosher salt, black pepper, blackening seasoning BBQ sauce. Form into 6 patties and place into a shallow non-reactive pan. For marinade, in a small bowl, whisk together wine and BBQ sauce and pour over patties in pan. Marinate in refrigerator for 30-45 minutes, turning once.
Meanwhile, prepare a gas grill for medium-high heat. Place bacon pieces into a grill-safe skillet such as a cast-iron. Cook bacon for several minutes until they begin to render the fat. Add sliced onions and continue to cook with the grill cover down for about 20 minutes or until mixture is caramelized, stirring occasionally, remove from grill and cover with foil to keep warm.
heat gas grill to medium-hot heat. Pour off marinade from burger patties. Sprinkle patties with blackening seasoning, 1/2 tsp per side of each burger. Oil grill grid with vegetable oil and place patties on grid. Cook patties to desired doneness, about 5-6 minutes per side. Place the buns, cut side down, on the outer edges of the rack to toast lightly during the last 2 minutes of grilling. meanwhile, cut blue cheese cylinder into 6 pieces. To assemble burgers, for each burger, place a cooked patty on bottom bun half. Place a blue cheese piece on top of patty. Top each with even amounts of bacon-onion mixture followed by tomato slice and top of bun.
Makes 6 burgers.